Friction has been a constant enemy in industry and transportation, and the primary weapon in reducing the effects of friction has long been the bearing assembly. Bearings come in many shapes including ball bearings, roller bearings, needle bearings and others. The main advantage provided by a bearing is to convert what would otherwise be a high-friction sliding interface into a low-friction rolling interface.
However, as much as bearings may assist in the reduction of friction, there is still some degree of wear to the bearing assemblies (rolling elements and races). As such, bearings must periodically be replaced or reconditioned. While certain portions of a bearing assembly may be reused after some processing or relubrication, the rolling elements themselves are typically discarded and replaced. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,591,107 assigned to Timken, describing the reconditioning of used bearing assemblies by discarding and replacing used races and rolling elements.
From the standpoint of economy, it may indeed be preferable to replace rather than recondition small bearing elements; however, large bearing elements represent a larger investment in terms of material cost and labor, and it may become prohibitively expensive to discard and replace such large components.
In addition to the material and labor costs included in replacing the bearing elements, a reliance on replacements alone also exposes a manufacturer or user to supply chain disruption risks. While it is sometimes possible to simply retain the rolling elements during reconditioning, the already reduced useful life of the rolling elements and the cost of a subsequent tear down often combine to make this option economically unfeasible.
In lieu of successful strategies for reconditioning such rolling elements, many attempts have been made to reinforce new bearings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,481, also assigned to Timken, teaches an isotropic polishing process for increasing the useful life of bearing components. The process described in the '481 patent is a multi-step polishing process that increases surface smoothness and thus decreases friction and turning torque. However, the '481 patent does not address the reconditioning of rolling elements once they have become worn. As such, reconditioning under the '481 patent would likely proceed in the same manner as in the contemporaneous '107 patent from the same assignee, i.e., discarding and replacement of rolling elements.
The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods that address one or more of the problems set forth above. However, it should be appreciated that the solution of any particular problem is not a limitation on the scope of this disclosure or of the attached claims except to the extent expressly noted. Additionally, the inclusion of any problem or solution in this Background section is not an indication that the problem or solution represents known prior art except as otherwise expressly noted.